Wednesday, 21 December 2016

The
John Silver Band began life in Belluno in 2005 with a line up formed by Gianni Carlin (vocals, flute, xylophone), Emmanuele Burigo
(electric and acoustic guitar), Federico Bassanello (bass) and
Fabrizio Gaspari (drums, glockenspiel). The band split up in 2011,
after a good live activity on the local scene and a self-released debut
album entitled La luce che muore nel buio (2009) featuring
funny, sarcastic lyrics and an overall sound influenced by Jethro
Tull, Frank Zappa, blues-rock and psychedelia...

Three
years later, in 2014 Gianni Carlin and Emmanuele Burigo started a new
project with a rhythm section formed by Antonio Nabari (bass,
glockenspiel) and Enrico Tormen (drums) carrying on their previous
band's legacy. The name of the new band is Campo Magnetico (Magnetic
field) and in 2016 they home-recorded and self-released an
interesting debut album entitled Li vuoi quei kiwi? (Do you
want those kiwis?). In everyday life magnetic fields are most often
encountered as a force created by permanent magnets, which pull on
ferromagnetic materials and attract or repel other magnets. Well, in
this case the permanent magnets are the hard, raw rhythm section on
one side and the clean, soaring notes of the flute on the other side
and the nine instrumental tracks on the album draw all their strength
from the contrast between the two opposite poles...

The
opener "Pane da guardia" (Watch-bread) sets the atmosphere.
The pace is slow and heavy, distorted electric guitar riffs lead the
march as a storm of iron butterflies fly around. Then the soaring
notes of the flute bring in light melodies and songs from the
woods... Can you get the picture?

The
following "La fiera di Düsseldorf"
(Düsseldorf Fair) begins
by an experimental section where the voice is used as an instrument
and the band seem free to improvise but uncertain about what
direction take. Well, Gianni Carlin is not Demetrio Stratos and
nothing is easy here. Luckily the experiment is not too long and on
the second part of the piece the band stand up, the rhythm takes off
and the flute begins to cry you a song...

Campo Magnetico 2016

The
long "Sabbia di cammelli di sabbia" (Sand of camels of
sand) in my opinion is the weakest track of the lot. Here at times
the musicians seem to play almost casually mixing wordless nursery
rhymes and oriental flavours but the results are not always
convincing and they risk get stuck in the quicksands of boredom...

The
lively "Perché hai il fiatone John?" (Why are you getting
out of breath John?) is definitely better, even if it doesn't shine
for originality. It leads to the short, dreamy "Buccia di pesce"
(Fish skin) where the rhythm calms down for a rest before the ride
under the stars of the hypnotic "Appuntamento al buio"
(Randez-vous in the dark).

"L'osso
dell'albero" (The bone of the tree) is another good track that
recalls early Jethro Tull as the following "Sig. Tartaruga"
(Mr. Turtle) that alternates surges of energy and slower passages.
The closer "La tua ciabatta focosa" (Your fiery slipper)
starts with electric guitar riffs that remind me of Black Sabbath. This track
could describe in a very funny way a kind of parasitical couch
potato... But the interpretation of the music is up to you!

On
the whole, this an interesting, home-grown album with a strong
vintage atmosphere. The sound quality might not be one of the best
and personally I think that the use of a Hammond organ could have
improved the final result but I enjoyed it anyway.

However,
give it a try and judge for yourselves. You can listen to the
complete album HERE

Tuesday, 20 December 2016

Anacondia
began life in 1995 on the initiative of keyboardist Andrea Canonico
and singer Gabriele Ramilli but it wasn't until 2000 that the band
could find a durable line up featuring, along with the founder
members, also Antonio Emanuele Sergi (drums, percussion), Walter
Marocchi (guitars) and Vincenzo Valerio (bass). After two demo EPs
(Genesi instabile, 2003 and Due mondi, 2005 - later
collected on the self-released CD Due mondi, 2006) and a good
live activity, in 2015 the band finally released what can be
considered their first real official full length album on the
independent label Lizard Records. It's entitled L'orizzonte degli
eventi (Event Horizon) and features the collaboration of the
guest Nicoletta Bartola (sax, flute, backing vocals) who contributed
to enrich the sound. It's a nice mix of prog, metal, psychedelia,
classical and a touch of folk and in my opinion it's a great step
forward for the band, especially if compared with the previous, still
immature, demos. The title of the album refers to a phenomenon that
is usually associated with black holes, a boundary in space-time
beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. Anyway, here
the term event horizon is used in a metaphorical way and marks the
limit between dreams and reality, ideals and conformism. But perhaps
the art cover by Massimo Valerio probably describes the lyrical
content of this work better than my words...

The
opener "Eroi di solitudine" (Heroes of solitude) starts by
heavy electric guitar riffs and sudden flushes of energy. The music
and lyrics describe the desperate wish to escape from the nothingness
of a society that is compared to a vain, empty pageant of masks where
falsity and myths of plastic rule. Despite its length this is a
straightforward piece where the band just try to express rage
without hate claiming their right to be different from the
mainstream...

The
following track "Nel silenzio" (In the silence) is shorter
but, in my opinion, more complex and refined. At the start the
atmosphere is almost hypnotic, tense. Then tension melts in a dreamy
section with the flute in the forefront... Here the music and lyrics
depict a kind of nobody's land between wake and sleep where strange
sensations and false images gather around you and silence begins to
paint your soul in vivid colours as a soundless orchestra begins to
play for you...

Anacondia on stage 2013

"Ideale
o verità" (Ideal or truth) starts calmly and conjures up
confused images hanging in the air, between dream and reality. It's a
delicate ballad that deals with the need to have an ideal, a dream to
follow to get on and on. Dreams and hopes can make you blind but
without them you risk to get lost anyway... Next comes the melodic
"Come un fiume in piena" (As a raging river) that
celebrates the thaumaturgic, overwhelming power of a music that can
shake you from the inside and that you can't stop.

"Un
foglio bianco" (A blank paper) is an excellent track that
combines delicate classical music patterns and heavier passages. The
music and lyrics describe the atmosphere of an important moment in
your life when you have to make up your mind and make a choice but
where you are uncertain about what to do. Life can be like a blank
sheet that you have to fill with your own words, a white page that
you have to paint with your own imagination and sometimes you really
have to try hard to reach your goal...

The
long, complex "Gerico" (Jericho) is a dramatic epic whose
title refers to the battle of Jericho as told in the holy bible... So
the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the
people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great
shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into
the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.
Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women,
young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
(Joshua 6:20-21). However, here the episode of the fall of
Jericho is just a metaphor: in fact, the music and lyrics of this
piece tell of an imaginary battle against falsity and human vanity
drawing strong images and evocative musical passages.

The
ethereal closer "Il colore dell'aria" (The colour of the
air) starts softly and the atmosphere is dreamy and melancholic. The
music and lyrics evoke the dance of the wind and the singing of the
leaves, an inner void that is difficult to understand and dark
shadows that the river swept away. But at last you can hear a
friendly voice and see the light of hope showing the way...